VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis offered a Christmas wish Wednesday for a better world, praying for protection for Christians under attack, battered women and trafficked children, peace in the Middle East and Africa, and dignity for refugees fleeing misery and conflict around the globe.

Francis delivered the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” (Latin for “to the city and to the world”) speech from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to 70,000 cheering tourists, pilgrims and Romans in the square below. He said he was joining all those hoping “for a better world.”

In his first Christmas message since being elected pontiff in March, he asked for all to share in the song of Christmas angels, “for every man or woman … who hopes for a better world, who cares for others,” humbly.

Among places ravaged by conflict, Francis singled out Syria, which saw its third Christmas during civil war; South Sudan; the Central African Republic; Nigeria; and Iraq.

LOWER POTTSGROVE TOWNSHIP, PA — A national controversy hit close to home Friday afternoon after three-year-old videosof Phil Robertson speaking at a local church resurfaced.

Robertson, the patriarch of the family featured on the hit TV show “Duck Dynasty” on A&E, made what some perceived as anti-gay comments in an article in GQ Magazine. The article is published in the January 2014 edition of the magazine.

His controversial comments have started a firestorm of online discussion and led to Robertson’s indefinite suspension from the popular reality show.

But the faith-based comments Robertson made in the GQ article were echoes of statements he made while speaking at events long before the show on A&E started.

As the Duck Dynasty family was warning it might pull out of the show after patriarch Phil Robertson was suspended from anti-gay remarks in GQ, videos of him preaching similar thoughts at a Pottstown church have surfaced.

In the 2010 videos, Robertson was preaching at a Wild Game dinner at the Berean Bible Church. During the roughly hour-long talk, he weighed in on the immorality of gays, indicating they are experiencing God’s wrath. He also spoke on a range of issues, including his famed duck calls, Terry Bradshaw as his backup quarterback in college, and that he doesn’t believe in evolution.

No one at the Berean Bible Church, which was preparing for its Nativity Scene, was available to comment this morning. The videos were recorded before the Duck Dynasty show began airing.

DAMASCUS (AP) — Syrian Christians offered prayers Sunday for a group of more than a dozen nuns and orphanage workers held by rebels for nearly a week, fueling fears in the minority community that they are being targeted by extremists among the fighters seeking to oust President Bashar Assad.

The seizure of the 12 Greek Orthodox nuns and at least three other women is the latest attack to spark panic among Syria’s Christians over the strength of al-Qaida-linked militants and other Islamic radicals in the nearly 3-year-old revolt against Assad’s government. A priest and two bishops previously kidnapped by rebels remain missing, and extremists are accused of vandalizing churches in areas they have captured.

Rebels seized the nuns on Monday from the Greek Orthodox Mar Takla convent when fighters overran Maaloula, a mainly Christian village north of Damascus that lies on a key highway and has changed hands several times in fierce fighting between rebels and government forces. The group, along with three women — themselves orphans — who work in the convent’s orphanage were taken to the nearby rebel-held town of Yabroud.

The eldest of the nuns is nearly 90 years old, and the youngest of the orphanage workers is in her mid-teens, according to Mother Superior Febronia Nabhan, head of the Saidnaya Convent.

The chanting of a Hindu prayer could be heard faintly on the streets of Petersburg Corners in Scranton. Inside a former Presbyterian church on Prescott Avenue, they lit candles made of hardened butter, sweet-smelling incense and sat with their legs crossed before Shiva and other deities of the Hindu pantheon, chanting in unison a prayer in Gujarati, a language of India.

Years ago, the cross of Christ was the symbol of faith here. A nearly 70-year-old organ played the hymns of the Christian faith.

That is all gone now, serving as another reminder of the shifting demographics of the city as it continues on a new path than the road taken by the Italians, Irish, Polish and other European immigrants. During the immigration waves of the 19th and early 20th centuries, they built the churches and laid the foundations of the city.

Petersburg Corners and the surrounding area reveal a new direction, a community undergoing change, where another wave of immigrants is now building a place they, too, can call home.

Today, the growing Indian community in this neighborhood, the surrounding Hill Section neighborhood and nearby parts of the city flock to the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu temple at 933 Prescott Ave. Harikrisna Patel, 57, is a spiritual leader at the temple, where roughly 300 adherents of Hinduism gather for prayer and meals.

Pastor Jack Williams of First Century Worship Center told Mayor Vaughn D. Spencer Thursday that he and other volunteers cleaned street litter and piled trash bags behind his 11th Street church one day this summer.

Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson fell short of the required votes to be re-elected on the first ballot as head of the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination.

Bishop Hanson garnered 440 of the 877 valid ballots cast during a meeting in Pittsburgh today of the 4-million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Although it was nearly 400 more votes than the runner-up, it fell short of the 75 percent needed to elect on the first ballot.

80-ply dough baklava (which is usually 40-ply), speciality of Beypazarı district of Ankara,Turkey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Plenty of people are getting their Greek on this weekend.

Shortly before the 11 a.m. start of the Capital Region Greek Festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Wormleysburg this morning, customers were lining up for gryos, baklava and lamb dinners.

It’s a little known secret – you can arrive early at the festival at 1000 Yverdon Drive to beat the rush.

“It’s a beautiful day. It’s perfect for this,” said Donna Angeloff of Willamstown.

POTTSTOWN — Each year, the interfaith prayer service honoring Martin Luther King Jr. celebrated by the borough’s various religious communities strikes a special chord with the Rev. Vernon Ross Jr.

“This is something I look forward to,” Ross said. “It’s really a part of me.”

Ross, the pastor of Bethel AME Church, grew up in Mississippi and, as a football player in high school, was president of his chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

In 1977, when Ross and other members of the organization tried to go to church to share their faith with their Christian coach — a white man — the athletes were told that only white players were allowed inside.

Cedarville United Methodist Church, 1092 Laurelwood Road, Pottstown, PA 19465. Join us for a special Music Sunday on Oct. 14th with traditional services at 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. and a contemporary service at 9:30 a.m.

All services will feature some or all of the following: singing of hymns, praise team, choir, brass quartet, handbell choir, piano and organ. A special children’s message in word and song will be held at the 9:30 and 11:00 services.

We look forward to having you join us for a joyous celebration of the gift of music in worship.

A 90 year old man goes for a physical. All of his tests come back with normal results. The doctor says, “George, everything looks great. How are you doing mentally and emotionally? Are you at peace with God?”

George replies, “God and I are tight. He knows I have poor eyesight, so He’s fixed it so when I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, poof! The light goes on. When I’m done, poof! The light goes off.”

“Wow, that’s incredible,” the doctor says.

A little later in the day, the doctor calls George’s wife. “Ethel,” he says, “George is doing fine! But I had to call you because I’m in awe of his relationship with God. Is it true that he gets up during the night, and poof! ….The light goes on in the bathroom, and when he’s done, poof!…… The light goes off?”

CANTATICA and their guests, the Coventry Singers, will be presenting a program entitled: “An American Thanksgiving“, with many well-loved choral works like “Zion’s Walls”, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, “How Can I Keep from Singing”, and “Let Us Break Bread Together”. Also included will be works for trumpet and piano, vocal soloists, and piano four-hands.

It will be an evening of great music featuring several of Emmanuel’s own musicians: Toni Palmertree, Jill Miller, Todd Sutter, Dale Hartman, Joy Meade, and Andrew Meade. Please consider attending if you are able!

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is making the national news as of late but unfortunately it is not for something wonderful. Instead the archdiocese has been in the spotlight for its handling of sexual abuse cases involving its priests. It is believed that Pope Benedict will now accept Cardinal Rigali’s resignation (he turned 75 last year) in light of the scandal rocking the archdiocese in which Rigali’s leadership has come under heavy fire. Rigali has been the head of the Philadelphia archdiocese since 2003.

The leading contender to replace Cardinal Rigali is Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, the first Native American to serve as the bishop (Ordinary) of a diocese in the Roman Catholic Church. Chaput is considered to be a conservative who follows church teachings and at one time was a Capuchin monk. This leadership change will be officially announced in the very near future.